IT Developer
“I had the opportunity to develop and deploy an application designed to identify the closest police precincts to a given address. Before this application, my coworkers had to navigate a cumbersome webpage that returned an overwhelming amount of unnecessary information when an address was entered. The excessive data and complexity of the page also led to slow response times.
The main function of the application is to streamline this process. It reads an Excel sheet containing extensive information (or directly from a search bar) and identifies the key address components. The address is then quickly sent to our API (think of an API like ordering food from a restaurant—you request what you need, and it’s delivered to you without the hassle of preparing it yourself). The API returns the corresponding precinct number and confirms whether the address matches what’s stored in our system.
Once “exact matches” are found, the user can download a file that includes all the addresses along with their respective precinct numbers. This project involved significant work with C#, JavaScript, CSS, SQL—retrieving and storing data in a database, creating necessary data tables, and writing numerous procedures to ensure the application functioned smoothly. The entire application was built using the Microsoft .NET Framework, which uses ASP Netcore packages and also handles authentication and authorization.
My experience so far has been amazing. I think being put to the test every day and having to develop for 8 hours a day for the last couple months has made me feel more native and confident in my field of work. Seeing and telling the coworkers that are going to be using this application the most has been fun, especially knowing how much of a hassle it was before, making their work lives a little easier and the smiles that came with it has been great. Also, this internship highlight[ed] exactly what I wanted to do with my degree, [and] it’s been good knowing that I’m headed down the right path and I really do enjoy what I had my mind set on doing.
Working with numerous tools and having to learn them from scratch has been beneficial, [and] I definitely see myself bringing in the new toolset to my future employers. In terms of how the TCNJ Comp Sci department prepared me for this task, I’d say it was above and beyond. My supervisor has been impressed with both the speed and efficiency of work while going out and doing the extra when I wasn’t asked.
I have to say the learning curriculum at TCNJ (especially Software Engineering with Dr. Pulimood, Database Systems with Professor DeGood and Operating Systems with Dr. Yoon) brought me confidence to come in here and do my job to the best of my abilities!”